S01.E09: The Series Finale

[Zuleikha]

I loved WandaVision a lot and in general thought it was excellently done. But what I haven't seen any of TPTB answer in interviews is why did they make Wanda hurt the Westview residents so much with her sitcom? Given that they knew they didn't really want Wanda to be the villain, it seems like they would have gotten everything they needed from having the residents simply have no awareness of what was going on while possessed. They could even have done something like when the Vision awakened the residents from their sitcom personalities, that's when they feel Wanda's grief washing over and crushing them.

I know that they wanted a bait-and-switch, but it feels like they didn't think the bait-and-switch aspect through. The scene with the tear streaking down the woman's face while she robotically made the same gesture over and over of hanging the ghost was horrifying. It's hard to walkback the knowledge that Wanda continued to do that to the town after Vision and Fietro both made her confront the fact that she was doing it. But even if the MCU wants to take her to full on villainy eventually, it feels gross to me to spend so much time feeling her grief for her arc to go that way. I feel like the writers didn't think their messaging through all the way.

Heck, if they really felt Vision needed to see suffering for his arc, they could have had Agatha responsible for tweaking Wanda's spell. That would have made Agatha more villainous and justified the Agatha-All-Along song. 

The extent of the harm to the Westview residents was the one false note in the show for me. It doesn't ruin the show, but it is something that lingers the more distance I have from the emotional effects of watching it. It seemed so unnecessary, and I'm surprised interviewers haven't asked the creative team the why of it.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Zuleikha said:

 

I loved WandaVision a lot and in general thought it was excellently done. But what I haven't seen any of TPTB answer in interviews is why did they make Wanda hurt the Westview residents so much with her sitcom? Given that they knew they didn't really want Wanda to be the villain, it seems like they would have gotten everything they needed from having the residents simply have no awareness of what was going on while possessed. They could even have done something like when the Vision awakened the residents from their sitcom personalities, that's when they feel Wanda's grief washing over and crushing them.

 

It’s an interesting question but personally I’m glad they did what they did. Most shows and movies with mind control gloss over the impact of losing control of your own life to make it more palatable. Even if the people had no memories of what happened and experienced no pain it would still be a horrible violation. I liked that the show didn’t give Wanda that out. It was awful and she hurt people even if she didn’t mean to so now she has to learn to cope with that.  

[JustHereForFood]

On 4/3/2021 at 10:45 AM, KimberStormer said:

Hi guys; I have not read anything anyone else has written in this forum.  I don't really want to because I've seen enough reactions to the show to know the way people in general have taken it and reading the stuff people say often bums me out.  But I want to write this somewhere and I guess this forum is the one I feel safest on, with my Survivor friends on it, although I know I haven't posted in forever.  I asked the mod and they said I should post in this thread for my whole-season thoughts.

My sister persuaded me to watch.  I have seen maybe 10% of the Marvel movies?  And in general I am not a big fan.  I liked the first Iron Man very much and I love Spider-verse, but otherwise I am pretty meh on all the rest I've seen.  And indeed once it was CGI laser fighting I was disappointed, though of course I knew going in that that would eventually be coming.  I was only disappointed because what came before was very moving to me.

My mother died when I was 9 and from then it was like a festival of death for my family and loved ones, boom boom boom everyone dying and before I was out of high school my siblings and I were orphans with zero other family members left.  More death was to come but thank god not my siblings, like Wanda lost Pietro, or a boyfriend/husband like Wanda lost Vision.  Now 20 years later I have been thinking alot about it, and WandaVision helped me to see and acknowledge it, how I was, like Wanda, holding up by sheer will an illusion that I was just fine! normal teenager! yeah that sucked but hey I am doing great, don't worry about me!!!  And not just to fool the world, but to fool myself.  I mean, I would avoid the topic of parents, I would use ambiguous language so I didn't have to lie that they were alive but also not admit they were dead, but I thought that was because I was Totally Fine and didn't want a lot of drama.  I was not fine.  I think of it now and I see so clearly how not fine I was.

I think there's no part of this show I identified with more than when she leaves the Hex to throw the drone at Hayward's feet.  I have seen discussion (maybe not here, but elsewhere) where people suggested that wasn't really Wanda, because she didn't really know what she was doing while she was inside her fantasy in the Hex, so how could she defend it?  But wow, was I exactly the same; I did not consciously know I was putting on an act of Healthy Happy KimberStormer, but I certainly consciously knew to defend it whenever anyone tried to butt in and threatened that illusion.  And I knew, like Wanda, that they were not doing it because they cared about me; they wanted something, creepy professors at school who figured out something was up and wanted to pry into my life, "mentor" me, or whatever.  If I had magical powers I would have blasted them away, no question.

I remember times when, like the beekeeper, reality would intrude -- maybe some trouble with financial aid at school or having to get a co-sign for my first apartment or whatever, something I couldn't deal with on my own and I had nobody to help me, and how it would terrify me, reveal that illusion, make me see myself lost and alone and shivering with fear, and I too would rewind, push away, deny and delay, hide and ignore and pretend.  And I feel like I never really adequately mourned, too busy pretending, even at 9 years old, that I was totally fine guys, no drama here, pay no attention to me.

So for me, Wanda doing these wacky sitcom antics, with all the strain and sadness and fear behind her eyes, well, I feel a deep deep connection.  I think the only thing I'd seen Elizabeth Olsen in was Wind River (which I didn't think much of, a lot of macho bullshit, and ugh Jeremy Renner gross, why is the super lame white guy the hero anyway) but now I feel like I want to watch everything she's in.  Except I don't know if I can handle Sorry For Your Loss, if she made me cry so much in this silly sitcom superhero show about grief, how destroyed would I be in a serious show about grief?

ALSO they totally nailed all the sitcom stuff perfectly, the production values, the theme songs (and I hate the music in Frozen so much, so it is surprising for me to admit that all the themes are perfection) etc etc, good show guys, it's just a shame about the superhero stuff, I do like Darcy tho--

Thank you for sharing your story. I am so sorry that you had to experience so much loss. I hope that connecting with Wanda in this series has helped at least a little. I always find it fascinating when a TV show manages to show something that so many viewers can relate to, even if the circumstances around that are completely unique. While none of us know what it's like to fight aliens or possess these kind of powers, a lot of us can relate to losing someone close and/or feeling completely alone and I personaly think that it can be comforting to see that these superpowered characters can go through the same things as us.

 

Regarding Monica's line about the people not knowing what she gave up for them, I don't really have problem with it. I took it not just as a comment on destroying the fake reality (which yes, she basically just undid what she caused, so it doesn't count as a sacrifice for the people), but also about all that happened before in the movies. Wanda basically had to kill Vision for the greater good and while it is what heroes are supposed to do, it is IMO understandable that she might feel like she deserves to be cut some slack for that, if only by getting his body which she was denied.

 

I definitely agree with everyone that Elisabeth Olsen deserves all awards for this performance. The costume department as well. When Wanda appeared in her comic costume in the end, I definitely teared up, and she is not even among my top favorite comic characters. She looked awesome.

[Smad]

5 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Regarding Monica's line about the people not knowing what she gave up for them, I don't really have problem with it. I took it not just as a comment on destroying the fake reality (which yes, she basically just undid what she caused, so it doesn't count as a sacrifice for the people), but also about all that happened before in the movies. Wanda basically had to kill Vision for the greater good and while it is what heroes are supposed to do, it is IMO understandable that she might feel like she deserves to be cut some slack for that, if only by getting his body which she was denied.

IMO one doesn't get slack when knowingly keeping thousands prisoner (including children) and torturing them (including children) to work through their grief. I was willing to cut Wanda slack at the beginning, since the show wasn't making any sense as to how much Wanda was aware of what she was doing. But once they made it clear she was aware and she didn't immediately put a stop to it, that's when she became a villain.

It's funny how many people in (Woo, Monica, Darcy) and out of the show (viewers) are willing to cut Wanda any slack. Because here is a point that I don't ever see anyone mention. It's been 3 weeks since people were un-snapped. For those who weren't snapped, it's been 5 years of having to deal with friends and family suddenly disappearing. There is no way the people in Westview weren't also massively hit by that (and we don't hear about any of them going so crazy with grief they harm others). All these people are going through trauma and grief as well. And here comes Wanda who not only adds her trauma on top of that (via people having her dreams, feeling what she feels) but the mind-control and separations from family members and keeping children locked in their rooms are going to mean long-time therapy for these people (especially the children).

What about the first guy Vision wakes up who panics because he has a family member outside Westview who is sick? Considering how serious it sounded, what if that family member died while this guy was under Wanda's control? He would be going through hell after (on top of what Wanda did to him) because he wasn't at this person's side. What about real life Dottie? Maybe her child got snapped and she had to live without that child for 5 years and just got them back. It's been only 3 weeks since her child would have come back...how would you feel to then have your child locked in a room (probably without a bathroom, anything to eat or drink etc.) with no way to get to them. And in a population of thousands, there will be quite a few cases like that. But then Monica never once cared about the people in Westview and their trauma and what Wanda was doing to them. She only cared about poor, poor Wanda.

Everybody in the universe lost. Everybody. Wanda is not unique in that regard.

[Quark]

Ralph Bohner.

That is all.

Oh and Wanda basically became Rowena from Supernatural. Loved her to bits.

Edited April 27, 2021 by Quark

[Macbeth]

On 3/5/2021 at 5:41 PM, Kromm said:

I know we all want acting Emmys for this show, and will feel cheated if it doesn't get any. 

But I think there will be the Internet version of riots of this show doesn't get a costume design Emmy. Not just for the Scarlet Witch final outfit, but all of those great period clothes. 

Probably set design too, but DEFINITELY costuming. 

Did someone say costumes??

 

[Macbeth]

On 3/5/2021 at 6:17 PM, moonorchid said:

It may have been a bit of a “safe” ending but this show was the most ambitious thing I’ve seen them do and they knocked it out of the park.
 

I straight up cried the moment Vision said “not for us” and they walked home till after the hex passed them. For a pairing that was just “there” before now I am fully invested in them whether they come back or not. I am also completely 100% on board with Wanda/Scarlett Witch.

saying all that nothing I theorized came to pass, lol. I really thought they’d pull from the comics and Doctor Strange would come in and take Wanda and that’s how she’d feature in DS2. I really thought Fietro was the beginning of the multiverse and honestly that was the most disappointing and I’m not sure I like that they casted Evan Peters as a huge “GOTCHA” moment. Almost seems cruel. 
 

Other than that, this show nailed its ending. Everything I crave in what I watch I got here. This show was damn near perfect and I do feel that it was only get better in retrospect with future mcu projects. I feel like WandaVision is going to be the catalyst for what we see later and we’ll be able to go back and see when everything started. 
 

I am satisfied. 

I agree this was amazing.  This is why, in some ways, tv is so much better than movies.  This couldn't be done in a 2 hour movie.  

[rmontro]

On 3/5/2021 at 8:09 AM, Primal Slayer said:

Pietro...i do not care, I am pissed off to my core that he just ended up being some nobody. That was just downright dirty and such a waste. There was absolutely no reason to do a stupid recast if it wasnt FoxPeter. No reason. It was the shows biggest shocker imo when he showed up so for it to literally go nowhere..sorry but im mad.

I think I may be the only person on the planet who preferred Aaron Taylor-Johnson's version of Quicksilver to the Fox one.  Evan Peters is a great actor, but I thought his version was way too overpowered, he was too fast.  Quicksilver is not The Flash.  I thought the way Johnson's version was presented was just about perfect, just about exactly as fast as I imagined the comic book Quicksilver to be.

To be fair, they didn't seem to make Peters as fast here as he was in the X-Men movies.

[Enigma X]

3 minutes ago, rmontro said:

I think I may be the only person on the planet who preferred Aaron Taylor-Johnson's version of Quicksilver to the Fox one. 

You are not. I have been waiting for someone to join me at my table.

[rmontro]

3 hours ago, Enigma X said:

You are not. I have been waiting for someone to join me at my table.

Great, we'll have lunch!

[JustHereForFood]

15 hours ago, Enigma X said:

You are not. I have been waiting for someone to join me at my table.

I liked both equally. I've neven been much of a fan of his character, but I'm glad he appeared in both movie verses.

[Bruinsfan]

While the X-Men action scenes were more impressive, I really much prefer Taylor-Jones' performance. He and Elizabeth Olsen managed to develop pretty good sibling chemistry in just a couple of scenes. (Interesting, because I'd have assumed their characters were in a loveless marriage on the brink of divorce in Godzilla for all the romantic chemistry the actors had there...)

[Quickbeam]

I know almost nothing about the Marvel universe (grew up in a DC family) but I’d been wanting to watch this show forever. After wrangling Disney+ so that I could see it on my TV, I finally got to see this series. It isn’t anything like I thought it would be from the ads, I figured it was going to be like Pleasantville….but I was startled by how much depth and heart it had. I’ve always loved Paul Bettany and he was terrific as was the entire cast.